50¢
Closures set
for MLK Day
Mayor Paulson aims toward city police department
City, state, county and
federal offices will be
closed Monday, Jan. 15 in
honor of Martin Luther
King Jr. Day.
Besides a day off for
postal, DMV and other
agency employees, banks
and schools will be closed.
As usual, the “Illinois
Valley News” will be open,
as will businesses gener-
ally.
Mandatory in-house
sprinkler systems, and the
possibility of a city police
department are among ideas
put forth by Cave Junction
Mayor Tony Paulson.
And he announced that a
major roadway realignment
and expansion project at
Hwy. 199 and Laurel Road
likely will begin in July.
Paulson’s remarks were
made in his State of the City
Address during the city
council meeting Monday
night, Jan. 8 in city hall. Re-
elected to a second two-year
term on Nov. 7, he was
sworn in with new Council-
man Lynne Atteberry, and
re-elected Councilman Dr.
Dan Fiske, a veterinarian.
O&C funding
renewal plan
put forward
Introduction of H.R. 17,
the Secure Rural Schools and
Community
Self-
Determination Reauthoriza-
tion Act of 2007 -- legislation
that would reauthorize the
successful “county payments”
law for seven more years --
was made last week by U.S.
Congressmen Peter DeFazio
(D-Ore.) and Greg Walden
(R-Ore.).
Of Oregon’s 36 coun-
ties, 32 received payments
through the program totaling
more than $273 million last
year. Because of the large
volume of timber histori-
cally harvested from federal
land in Oregon, Oregon
counties have received sig-
nificant payments from the
funding formula, with the
Fourth and Second Districts
receiving the most federal
investment respectively.
“When we introduced
this idea several years ago,
the biggest obstacle to the
passage of county payments
legislation was opposition
from the timber industry and
environmental groups,” De-
Fazio said. “We sure have
come a long way.
“Organizations from the
farthest ends of the spectrum
have come together to sup-
port this program in a model
partnership among local,
state and federal interests.
Today, the biggest obstacles
we face are ever-tightening
Cave Junction leader also eyeing fire prevention sprinkler installations in all new homes
Regarding “a few im-
portant items the council
needs to implement,” the
mayor said, “First and fore-
most, I, like many of you,
believe we need to begin the
process of bringing back our
own police department.
“It will be challenging,
and I am sure we will be met
with some obstacles. But I
am confident that we can
overcome them. Once an
officer has been established,
we could implement an ordi-
nance that would allow us to
have code enforcement of
our current laws and codes.
“There would actually
be some teeth behind our
growl. I believe,” said Paul-
son, “that this would send
Speaking to another
matter, the mayor said that
he “would like to develop a
new building code that
would focus on the safety of
our citizens.
“A simple code requir-
ing that all new-home con-
struction have residential
sprinkler systems installed.
New home buyers are pay-
ing good dollars to keep their
lawns green with sprinkler
systems,” said the mayor,
“and nothing for the safety of
our elderly and the very
young.
“We have a great group
of volunteer firefighters,”
Paulson noted, “however,
they cannot respond to a fire
fast enough to stop the over-
whelming damage caused by
fire,” he said.
The mayor also said that
there may be price increases
for services offered by the
city. “New mandated testing
and rulings are going to af-
fect our budget in a negative
manner,” he stated.
Paulson expressed his
thanks for the opportunity to
serve as mayor.
“This has been a year of
years and challenges,” he
said, “as we have experi-
enced some of the growing
pains.
“Yet, through dedica-
tion, we are a strong and
committed community -- one
that I am thankful to live and
participate in.”
Query into
Kim search
advancing
VALLEY ACCIDENTS ABOUND -- Two motor vehicle acci-
dents occurred Tuesday night, Jan. 2 in Illinois Valley,
keeping Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD), American Medi-
cal Response (AMR), and lawmen busy. One crash was
reported near 5:30 on Redwood Hwy. near Eight Dollar
Road when a camper-type van on a dolly, being towed by
a pickup truck, swerved and
then rolled, said Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office. No
injuries were reported, and
there was no notation of a
citation. The pickup was
driven by Selma resident
Garry Kinney, 49. Approxi-
mately 30 minutes later, a
man identified as Chaz
Lindsay, 22, of Cave Junc-
tion and Medford, was
struck at Redwood Hwy.
and Lister Street by a car
driven by Leonard Holland,
58. Holland was not cited.
Witnesses said that Lindsay
darted in front of the car. He
was taken by AMR to a hos-
pital, and treated and re-
leased.
(Top photo by Michelle
Binker/IVN; other photos by
Dale & Elaine Sandberg/
IVFD Media Dept.)
NEW JOSEPHINE COUNTY COMMISSIONER Dave
Toler (from left) and new Sheriff Gil Gilbertson recited
oaths of office Monday, Jan. 8 at the county court-
house: incumbent commissioners Jim Raffenburg and
Dwight Ellis were among well-wishers. Story and an-
other photo on page 3. (Photo by Scott Jorgensen/IVN)
(Continued on page 4)
C of C slates
honor event
A dinner dance is on tap
for Feb. 10 when Illinois
Valley Chamber of Com-
merce recognizes its top
business and citizen of 2006.
Meanwhile, nomina-
tions for the outstanding
business and citizen will be
accepted until Friday, Jan.
26. Achievements must
have been accomplished
during 2006.
Nomination forms are
available from the chamber
office in the I.V. Visitor
Center. Or send the nomi-
nee’s name and address with
specific examples of their
contributions to P.O. Box
312 in Cave Junction.
Information is available
at 592-3326.
The awards ceremony
will be part of a dinner dance
at the Junction Inn’s Boswell
Room beginning at 5 p.m.
The dinner menu has a
choice of prime rib, chicken,
or vegetarian entrée. There
will be a no-host bar.
Reservations at $20 per
person must be made by
Feb. 2 through the chamber
office. Businesses can spon-
sor a table for $120. The
semiformal event is open to
everyone.
Cave Junction in the right
direction to a better city and
community for us all.”
The city has been con-
tracting with Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office.
The current cost of $96,000
per year for having a deputy
40 hours a week will rise to
an estimated $102,000 for
the fiscal year that will begin
on July 1.
Some 25 years ago the
city had its own police force.
It was funded through the
federal Comprehensive Em-
ployment & Training Act.
When funding was discon-
tinued, among other factors,
the force was disbanded in
1981. The uniforms and
badges are stored at city hall.
A report to Gov. Kulon-
goski outlining the facts and
timelines surrounding the
efforts undertaken by state
agencies to assist in the
search for the Kim Family
last month in Southwestern
Oregon was delivered last
week by the Oregon Office
of Emergency Management
(OEM).
The governor called for
the report on Dec. 22, and
charged OEM to lead the
compilation of a chronology
of steps taken by the pri-
mary state agencies partici-
pating in the search. They
were the Office of Emer-
gency Management, Oregon
National Guard and Oregon
State Police.
The chronological report
includes information from
these three state agencies from
Nov. 30 through Dec. 7. Data
relate to their efforts assisting
local responders in the areas of
public affairs, investigation,
search, and coordination with
public and private entities.
“This report provides
the first round of facts relat-
ing to the state’s support of
the local search effort for the
Kim Family, which is nec-
essary in order to move for-
ward with a broader assess-
ment of search-and-rescue
in Oregon,” according to the
governor.
The report delivered to
the governor is not an ac-
count of official actions
taken by various sheriffs’
offices, local police depart-
ments, private agencies, or
individual citizens during
the Kim search. It is avail-
able
at
gover-
nor.oregon.gov.Gov/pdf/
letters/kimchrono.pdf
The Oregon State Sher-
iffs’ Association is still in
the process of compiling
information from the nu-
merous local agencies and
private individuals involved
in this search, as requested
by officials in Josephine
County.
“It must be under-
stood,” said OEM, “that the
timeline released last week
is only one component of
the facts of the entire search
and bigger picture. It is
likely that the report that is
forthcoming from the sher-
iffs’ association will fill in
many areas in this timeline.
“After we have all of
the facts from both the state
and local levels, I will con-
vene a task force of federal,
state, local and private sec-
(Continued on page 4)